Midnight Revelations
by JustADreamAway735
Summary: When he finally figured it out, it was three in the morning and he was only about sixty-five percent awake. As he sat in the rocking chair, one arm supporting his head while the other held that of the week-old child, he came to one thought. "I'm an adult now."


When he finally figured it out, it was three in the morning and he was only about sixty-five percent awake.

As he sat in the rocking chair, one arm supporting his head while the other held that of the week-old child, he absorbed the steadiness in the room-steady breathing in his wife, steady rhythm in the chair, steady heartbeats in his son-and came to one thought.

"I'm an adult now," Jack muttered in the darkened room.

The realization didn't feel scary at all, not like he'd imagined before. There were no feelings of regrets, no sadness at the thought of being caught and tied down. In fact…it felt like breathing in mountain air-difficult to swallow at first, but liberating once you got the hang of it.

Ever since he turned eighteen (Had eight years already passed?), the thought of settling down was just an automatic 'no' in his mind; why would he even think about sacrificing the rest of his freedom to live a mundane lifestyle in a cookie cutter suburbia?

But just feeling the utter softness and warmth coming off of his son, nothing else in the entire world felt this right.

His son….

His baby boy, _his_ flesh and blood. How was it possible that someone so tiny and absolutely perfect could exist at all? Jack outlined each smooth inch of skin, validating that it was, in fact, his. Well, half his. Without the beautiful woman lying in the bed next to him, he wouldn't even get to know his son in the first place; just the presence of the little one in his arms made Jack cherish Rapunzel a thousand lifetimes over.

Rapunzel….

These past nine months she braved and trooped, virtually on her own. Other than himself and several close friends, nobody else was there to support her; both of her parents had passed away and her witch of a stepmother was cut off from contact a long time ago. And yet, Rapunzel went on anyways, head held high and ready for the last of the months to pass. She was always so brave, part of the reason why he fell in love with her in the first place.

The lady in question lay in bed, unaware of the epiphany going on five feet away. She shifted in her sleep onto her other side, now facing Jack and the rocking chair and their _baby_.

Their product of their love. The single person in this entire world who would have his dusty white skin and his sharp blue eyes and Rapunzel's pert nose and her luscious blonde hair that made the name Ravi-the Hindi name for 'sun'-the only one that would do. Ravi, who had already inherited Rapunzel's kindness and the 'R' beginning in the name. Ravi, the almost eight-day-old who knew nothing of the world and the dangers in it.

Bottom lip folded under his teeth, he whispered, "Ravi Frost…I promise that I'll do anything to keep you safe and happy. Anything, even give my life."

Ravi stirred in his arms and Jack moved on instinct to grab the baby bottle. Whether he was right or it was sheer dumb luck, Ravi calmed down and went back to sleep, filling up his warm tummy with milk. In this point in time, Jack wished he could preserve this moment forever.

The bedsheets rustled, and Rapunzel shifted over to her two favorite men. "G'morning," she said, a smile threaded with sleep appearing. "How's he?"

"Fine, fine," he replied. "Kinda squirmy, but I just fed him right now."

"You want me to get him for a while? You've been up for a few hours already."

Jack shrugged it off, saying, "Nah, I'm fine. You go back to sleep, you've been working too hard anyways."

The smile on her face was too bright for him to ignore. "Thanks, love." Her eyes flicked onto the sleeping Ravi, reflecting the grin that was on her mouth. "I still can't believe it, that he's here with us, that we're parents now….It's crazy, isn't it?"

Jack nodded. "I was thinking the same thing. I mean, up until last year, I never thought I'd have any big responsibilities and now…this."

"Are you scared?"

"Out of my mind. I mean, there's about a million things that I can do that'll screw up the rest of his life, and I'm expected to keep on top of it." He let his head rest on the back of the rocking chair, ignoring the nagging voices that said he'd be a horrible father. "I just…I just don't want to mess anything up."

Rapunzel grasped his shoulder comfortingly, rubbing light circles into the blade. "Babe, the both of us are gonna make mistakes, we both know that. But making some bad decisions doesn't mean that we're bad parents-it makes us human. The best we can do when we make a mistake is learn from it, okay?"

And then the most amazing thing happened: Ravi reached out to Jack, his tiny hand barely able to wrap itself one of his fingers. The love Jack felt for Rapunzel was multiplied a thousand times in that single touch. He smiled and rubbed his thumb over Ravi's hand, memorizing the feel of it as it were delicate silk.

"Okay," Jack said finally. He brushed his lips first on Rapunzel's forehead, then on her mouth. "We'll do fine."

"Yes, I think we will." She yawned and settled back under the sheets. " 'Night, Babe. Come to bed soon, alright? He'll be fine a few more hours without us."

Jack waited until she was back asleep when he got up to put Ravi-his _son_-into the baby blue crib. His lips lingered on the side of his blond curls before he slowly, reluctantly, settled him down onto the comforter.

"Sweet dreams…my little Ravi."

* * *

_A/N: VACATION TIME! But sadly, not for long (especially because some teachers decided that homework was such a great idea to give out). And also, I've been sucked into the tumblr world, so if you're interested I hope you can check my blog out! For those who are, my blog's name is the exact username here, but every letter is lowercased :P *couchshamelessselfpromotioncough* Interestingly enough, this was actually posted on tumblr first and then I decided to share it here. My writing fingers have semi-rusted over, so think of this as a warm-up almost._

_Oh yeah, and on a completely unrelated side note, what do you guys think of the name Ravi? I know, Jack and Rapunzel obviously don't practice Hinduism (at least I think they don't...) but I thought the name was really befitting for a son of theirs. Besides, doesn't the name 'Ravi Frost' kinda have a nice roll off the tongue? I personally think so! :) _

_Well, that's it for now folks!_

_Until next time_

_-(insert real name here)_


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